The present disclosure relates to combining signals in electronic circuits.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Many electronic circuits process signals to perform a wide variety of functions. Signals in such electronic circuits typically comprise changing voltage and current values, where the voltage and current variations may represent information, for example. One limitation on many electronic systems is the amount of power the electronic system can generate to transmit voltage and current signals. For example, a wireless system may be required to transmit radio frequency (“RF”) signals to an antenna at a minimum power level to ensure reception of the signal. However, the power output of electronic circuits in the system may be limited by such factors as supply voltage or supply current, for example.
For instance, as transistor sizes decrease, electronic circuits using such transistors are able to increase in speed and achieve higher frequency operation. However, as the transistor sizes decrease, the breakdown voltages also decrease, and the supply voltages must be reduced to ensure safe operation of the devices. Lower supply voltages, in turn, reduce the amount of power that can be generated by the transistors in such devices. In a wireless system, for example, lower supply voltages reduce the power available to drive an antenna. This, in turn, reduces the distance the wireless system can transmit RF signals.